


Don't You Remember

by PuppetMaster55



Series: Uliro Week [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, uliroweek2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 12:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11036406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppetMaster55/pseuds/PuppetMaster55
Summary: Ulaz remembers were Shiro does not





	Don't You Remember

“Do you remember?” Ulaz asked, fingers curling between Shiro's right arm.

Shiro's brow furrowed, looking at their twined hands. “Losing my arm? No.”

“That's not what I meant,” Ulaz replied, voice soft. “But it is good you don't remember that. It was... horrific, by anyone's standards.” He looked away. “I wanted to know if you remember before that.”

If Shiro remembered him, before. If he remembered meeting Ulaz for the first time, after that first fight. If he remembered those quintants in quarantine, that time alone with Ulaz, being held, being comforted. Those nights they spent together, those moments, physical, intimate.

Shiro shook his head, sad and weighed down. “I... bits and pieces. Mostly of the arena. Everything else... it blurs together. I'm still trying to convince myself that it's only been a year. So much happened I just... I want to remember. I do. But I'm terrified of what might happen to me if I do.”

Ulaz smiled, reaching out to take Shiro's other hand, his flesh and blood hand. He felt the softness, felt the bone beneath, as he ran the pads of his fingers across Shiro's knuckles. He drew both hands up, gently kissing each knuckle.

“Don't worry,” he said between kisses. “You are still the same person, still beautiful as you have always been. Changes on the surface mean nothing when you are unchanged within. Your memories are not your burden.”

“But I still should know,” Shiro said, blushing. He looked about five ticks away from melting against Ulaz, melting from the praise. “You said you only knew me near the end, but... what if there are things I did, things I knew but forgot about. I want to remember.”

Ulaz's smile shifted, becoming something fonder, something softer.

He had lied, that he barely knew Shiro before. Had lied that he had no clue about why Shiro had forgotten. Shiro's memories were Ulaz's burden to bear, Ulaz's to keep until Shiro needed them. Shiro wanted them to fill in the blanks, wanted to know just for the sake of knowing. It was different, Ulaz knew the truth, knew the things that Haggar had done to Shiro. He wished he could forget, wished he could do like he'd done for Shiro.

But no. He had promised Shiro, had promised that he would remember, had promised that he would ensure Shiro would forget. The plan, back then, was for Shiro to forget, for Ulaz to remember. For Shiro to escape, to take the Blue Lion and seek out the coordinates. The plan was for them both to hide in their quiet corner of the universe, hidden from the empire, hidden together. The plan was for them both to be safe, away from the horrors of the arena, of Haggar. Shiro would find Ulaz, and Ulaz would be with his love.

Instead, there was Voltron. Instead, there was the Black Paladin. Instead, Shiro remembered nothing of his time, remembered near to nothing of Ulaz. Instead, their quiet future was gone.

Shiro's memories were not his burden. Shiro's memories were for Ulaz to bear. A promise to be fulfilled in a future that would never come.

“I... would like to try something,” Ulaz began, looking toward his bag. “It could give you your memories back. All of them, the worst of you... and the best. Some of them you might not want to remember.”

Shiro straightened up, a fiery glint in his eyes, a determination that Ulaz knew far too well. He looked at the bag, turning toward it, and pulled Ulaz's hands along with his. Shiro paused, looked down at their still-clasped hands, and frowned. “I... _want_ to remember. But I don't know what that would mean for us.” He sighed. “I don't know if I'll still be the same person who could – could love you.” Shiro shook his head. “I don't want to lose you. Not if it's at the cost of remembering.”

Ulaz nodded. He wanted to say that it was wrong, that Shiro would only be regaining Ulaz, regaining more of himself, more of themselves and their time together.

“Then I won't,” he said instead. “I could never lose you. No matter what you remember, I will always love you.”

 


End file.
